Focused Areas of Research

Veteran Centric Mental Health Care

Recovery places the Veteran at the center of treatment in order to restore hope and return of functioning, achieve life goals, and optimize quality of
life. The long-term goal of this focused area of research is to improve Veterans' experiences with VA mental healthcare by enhancing the active
participation of Veterans' and their supports in mental health treatment, with a particular focus on optimizing communication and collaboration with
clinicians, self-management, and continuity of care. Early projects will seek to identify:

Veterans' and their supports' goals for optimal mental health, recovery, and mental health care; and

Facilitators and barriers to recovery—and to active participation of Veterans in treatment across the continuum of mental health treatment settings.

CIVIC investigators will then develop, test, and implement innovative approaches to promote Veterans' healthy behaviors and active participation in mental
healthcare in an effort to improve mental health outcomes.

Strategies to Enhance Veteran-Clinician Collaboration

Multiple strategies exist for engaging, activating, and educating Veterans about healthcare. However, not enough has been done to understand the
perceptions of Veterans and their supports about VA care, and how these perceptions impact communications and other interactions occurring between
clinicians and Veterans. Productive and truly collaborative interactions between clinicians and Veterans are more likely to result in improved health. In
this area of research, CIVIC will work to:

Identify Veterans', their supports', and care team needs and preferences for education and

communication that optimize active
participation of Veterans in care; and

Develop, test, and evaluate implementation of innovative tools and strategies that empower Veterans